You Saved Me
by twostrandsofmelody
Summary: What if Éponine never delivered the letter to Cosette? What if Enjolras had stopped her? What if God decided to save Éponine and Enjolras from dieing at the Barricade? Éponine/Enjolras  AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Takes place after Marius sings "**_**There is a way that you can help. You are the answer to a prayer! Please take this letter to Cosette. And pray to God that she's still there!**_**" Enjolras is as always Ramin Karimloo and Éponine is played by Samantha Barks. I'm not sure how many chapters this may turn into. It may end up a stand alone. Enjoy!**

**~o~**

"You there boy," Enjolras shouted as Éponine was staring down at the letter in her hand. "You, go and gather the guns and bring them to- Éponine."

Éponine looked around, trying to keep the ruse, "No monsieur, I am not Éponine." She pulled her hat farther over her face, keeping her head down.

"Don't play me for a fool, girl, I know well enough that no boy has ever had such a face." Enjolras looked around, making sure his men were doing their duties. "Why are you dressed like this?"

"I wanted to fight." Éponine confessed looking up at him, tucking a loose strand of hair back up into her hat. "But, now, Marius wants me to take this letter to _Cosette_."

Enjolras shook his head, "The battle is starting, and you would not be safe to travel outside of the barricade now."

"But I must do this for Marius," Éponine fisted the letter in her hand. "It's the only way..." She shook her head looking away.

"The only way what?"

"It's crazy monsieur."

"Enjolras."

"Enjolras, you would not understand." Éponine looked around, "This is my only chance to prove to Marius that I love him."

"By taking his love letter to another woman?" Enjolras grasped her arms, "I will not let you go."

"You have no control over what I do, Enjolras!" Éponine snapped, pulling away from his grasp.

"If you are pretending to be a soldier then I have every right to order you." Enolras tore the letter from her hand.

"Give it!" She jumped at him, trying to win the letter back.

"No." He took the letter, ripping it in half. There was a loud explosion that rocked the ground of Barricade, "Go find somewhere to hunker down and hide, Éponine."

She glared at him with vicious eyes, "Marius will be angry with me."

Enjolras reached out, gently cupping her cheek. "But you will be safe."

Éponine closed her eyes, before running away. She reluctantly followed his orders, finding somewhere to stowaway, for the duration of the bloody battle. She heard the cries of her friends, the young men of the ABC Cafe, as they met their deaths.

When the battle ended, she found she was the last one alive at the Barricade. She scoured the bodies, searching for Marius. She found Gavroche, Combeferre, Joly, Lesgles. Their faces and bodies were bloodied and barely recognizable. A sob racked her as she fell to the ground. Her friends - were dead and gone.

"Marius?" Éponine called out, she didn't know what it meant if she couldn't find his body. Had he been captured? Had he been wounded and deliriously wandered from the Barricade?

"Marius!" She cried out again, with no answer.

"Éponine," There was a faint whisper coming from the piles of the dead. It looked as though on after another had fallen from their posts into the heap of blood and mangled limbs.

"Is someone there?" She pulled herself up.

The only response was a pitiful groan, it was not Marius' voice, but she couldn't exactly tell whose it was.

Éponine, slowly moved towards the sound. The blood that stained the ground made her stomach lurch.

"Enjolras!" She shouted seeing him lying in the wreckage of the Barricade, his gun still tightly in his fist.

"Éponine," He murmured, turning his head ever-so-slightly to look up at her.

"You're alive!" Éponine sank to her knees beside him. After seeing so much death, she hardly believed he was alive. Eyes roaming, searching for his wound. She found that he had taken a hit in his stomach, just below his ribs.

"Is it bad?" His words ran together, as his eyes searched her face.

"No.." She shook her head, lying. "I don't know what to do, Enjolras. I don't know how to treat wounds. That was Joly, he was being trained to be a doctor. I don't know anything about this. I-"

"Shh." He whispered, "Just stay here with me."

"You can't die." Éponine felt hot tears run down her face. "You're the only one I've seen alive."

Enjolras laughed, but the pain of the action made him scream.

"Don't move. I think that would make it worse." Éponine desperately looked around. "I'll go into the city and I will search for a doctor."

As she started to rise, he grabbed her hand. "No!"

"Enjolras it could save you."

"I don't.." He paused as pain racked through him, his vision blurring. "I don't want to die alone."

"It could be what saves your life."

Enjolras shook his head, "I am dying."

"No." She bit her lip, "You saved me."

"You saved me." He gave her a soft smile that faded into a grimace of pain as he coughed and blood covered his lips.

"How did I save you?" She knew that when one of the men had gotten into a fight and he'd got a head wound, Joly had said that you keep them talking. Was it even the same when you were watching their life blood drain from them?

"You have come to me now." His eyes fluttered, and she squeezed his hand hard. "You are keeping me from dying alone."

"But you keep me from fetching a doctor. You keep me from having someone save your life." Éponine begged. It wasn't that she didn't want to stay here and keep him company – she didn't want to watch him die. She wanted to be across the city finding a doctor, even if they returned and he had passed on. He was always the strongest man she knew and seeing him reduced to whispers and coughs was more than she could handle.

"If our fates had been different Éponine." He smiled dreamily, almost as though he was picturing a life he'd never had. "If only."

"You do not mean?" She gave his hand another squeeze.

"Yes." He coughed again, more blood running from his mouth. Éponine brushed her thumb across his lips to wipe it away.

"You never said a thing to me." Éponine said firmly with a laugh, keeping the conversation light and trying to hide the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

"I didn't want to be rejected." He chuckled only to wince in pain. "Others saw an urchin and I saw an angel."

"I am no angel." Éponine contradicted, bringing his hand up to her lips, kissing his knuckles softly.

"God has brought you to me in my final hour." His voice faltered, his eyes closing in pain.

"Stay with me." Éponine panicked as she watched him, his chest was heaving but he was only getting short sucks of air.

"Marius was a fool." Enjolras smiled up at her, his eyes were fluttering.

Éponine brought her hand to his cheek, softly stroking it, smiling broadly down at him. Slowly, she leaned down to press her lips against his. He felt so cold. If he hadn't been dying she would have let it go on forever. She'd never even kissed someone before! Éponine pulled back sooner than she would have liked to, afraid that she would starve him of the vital air that he needed.

"Éponine," Enolras grinned wider than she had seen him smile in a long while.

"I'm going to find a doctor!" She shouted as she quickly rose to her feet. "And you better not die while I am gone!" Éponine darted from the Barricade before he could say another word. She couldn't bear to watch him die. No matter how much he wanted her there, she just couldn't be brave enough.


	2. Chapter 2

"Docteur! Docteur!" Éponine shouted as she ran down the streets, she had to make quick work of finding the man of medicine before it was too late for Enjolras.

She rounded a corner, colliding into a man. "Ah, who do we have here? ___Thénardier's_ little brat Éponine."

Éponine stepped back, " 'Parnasse, what do you want?"

"Could say the same of you," Montparnasse gave her a sly grin. "Why are you running the streets at such an hour?"

Éponine crossed her arms across her chest, "Why are you skulking at such an hour yourself?"

"Cunning little brat," He spat, stepping closer to her. "Where's your father at?"

"Lurking the sewers and stealing from God's people." Éponine snarled back, trying to see a way out of this. She didn't have the time to waste.

"You seem in such a rush."

"The Barricade fell there are wounded men in need of help."

Montparnasse gave her a wink, "Wouldn't want your clientele too wounded to pay."

"You know nothing of me." Éponine tried to brush by him.

"I could make you my wife." He grabbed her arm, gripping her tightly.

"God take my life." She snapped, smacking him across the face.

Montparnasse jerked her towards him, "I'd think a second before you make another mistake."

Éponine wilted, pretending to submit, "I am sorry 'Parnasse."

"Good Éponine." He ran his hand up her arm, making her feel sick. "Good little thing."

She'd seen some of the prostitutes attack men who tried to have them without pay, the things she had seen all those nights she'd walked alone. Reeling back, she brought her knee up, making she planted it exactly where it would bring any man down.

"I think you ought to think a second before _you_ make another mistake," She mocked, watching him fall to the ground. She didn't stick around much longer before she was darting back through the city.

Éponine came to the house where she knew that a doctor lived; he was the man that was teaching Joly at the university. She banged her fists against the door, "Doctuer! Doctour!"

After a few minutes, that felt like hours, a older gentleman came to the door in his dressing gown and night cap. "What is it child?"

"My friend! He is dying. The Barricade fell tonight! Please monsieur! Come and try to save him."

"Slow down." He stepped outside of his door, "What is wrong with your friend?"

"He was shot. He was shot," She pointed to herself were Enjolras had been injured. "Here. He was bleeding a lot and he was coughing up blood too. Please monsieur doctuer!"

"Let me get my medical bag." He disappeared inside of his house, shutting the door behind him. Éponine expected that he was not going to remerge, but she was proven wrong.

"Make haste child and show me the way." Barked the doctor as he hurried out of his home. "Before it is too late."

~o~

They arrived at the Barricade after running across the city. They had taken longer than Éponine had expected, she feared that it had been too late. Running into Montparnassse had set her back, and the older doctor was not as able to run as she had hoped.

"Let me show you to him," Éponine covered her mouth and nose with the back of her hand, the smell of blood making her sick. Where was Enjolras exactly? Past Gavroche's small body, past Lesgles, and Combeferre, and, "Here!" She shouted spotting his red and gold vest. "Enjolras!"

Éponine shook his hand, fearing the worse when he didn't respond. "No." She cursed, "God you cannot give him to me and take him all in one day!"

The doctor leaned down, opposite of her. Pressing two fingers to the side of his neck, "Child.."

"I do not want to know." She wiped away her tears that fell down her face.

"You do not want to know that he is still with the living?"

Her heart leapt for joy, "He is not dead?"

"Not yet. Help me lift him." She obeyed the doctor, helping him lift Enjolras' limp body. "Lay him there on those boxes."

Éponine shed her coat, balling it up propping his head up. "Please you have to fight Enjolras." She chocked on a sob. "Please God give him strength."

"He needs God is he is going to live. He has lost great amounts of blood. More than I have seen." The doctor was cut his shirt away from his chest. He poked and prodded at the wound, "Pray thanks that he is not conscious for this."

"Will he live?"

"I would not think he would. He may linger, but he may never return to the waking world."

Éponine gulped, "What can I do?"

"I need to cut him open, his lung has been punctured." He pulled a knife from his bag, it looked archaic and primitive. "Hold his hand. If he awakes, though I doubt it, keep him calm."

All she could do was nod and pray as she rested her forehead against his cheek.

~o~

The doctor had finally finished his surgery after an hour or more of cutting and digging and stitching. Éponine could not understand how any man could perform such an act on another human being. She had focused on talking to Enjolras, even if he could not hear her or would never be able to respond. She spoke of what would become of them after he got better. She had told him that she couldn't promise that she would love him yet, she cared for him, yes, but it wasn't love. Not yet. She told him how they would leave Paris, go somewhere bright and green free from the worries and gloom of the city. Somewhere he could fully recover. They would become to closest of friends, and then one day Éponine would wake up and realised that she loved Enjolras with all of her heart. They would be married and they would have ten children, or was that too many? Perhaps two.

The doctor couldn't bear to tell her that he doubted he would ever be able to give her children, or even more so wake up. "Stay here with him, I am going to go and fetch my servants and return with a carriage. I will take him back to my home where I can watch him."

"Thank you monsieur." Éponine cried, as she stared at Enjolras. "Thank you for saving him."

"I have not saved him. It is up to God if he lives or dies." The doctor bowed his head before leaving Éponine with Enjolras.

"You have to live Enjolras," She showered his face with little kisses, "I was so busy wanting Marius to see me, that I never saw you there." Éponine held his hand tight, "How foolish was I? Pining after a boy when all I needed was a man."

She felt a raindrop land on her face. Burying her face against his shoulder, feeling the hysteria of the matter set in, she said half laughing and half crying, "A little fall of rain makes the flowers grow."

"Éponine."


	3. Chapter 3

"Enjolras!" Éponine gasped, squeezing his hand tight.

"My hand," He forced a painful chuckle from his lungs. He glanced up at Éponine, giving her a grimacing smile.

"Sorry." She loosened her grasp, smiling down at him and brushing her fingers through his hair.

"You are an angel," He struggled, covering his mouth as he coughed painfully, tasting the salty iron in his mouth.

"No, I am just worried about you." She brushed her hand across his cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Like I have been shot." He smirked, closing his eyes and taking in deep slow breaths. "I heard you talking."

"With the doctor?" Éponine asked, tucking a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"No, when you were trying to comfort me." He sighed, opening his eyes slowly. "You are sweet."

"I only said those things because a dying man needs hope to believe to survive."

Enjolras stared for a moment before nodding slowly, "I understand."

Éponine cringed, that wasn't entirely what she meant. "But, Enjolras," She cupped his cheek again, "Look at me. I only said those things because I thought.."

"I was dying?"

"No!" Éponine held to his hand tightly. "Yes, but no. I only meant to comfort you. I'm not adverse to the idea of us. But, you still might die. The doctor said that only time will tell with your wound."

"You don't want to become invested in another hopeless case?" Enjolras coughed again, licking his lips as he tasted blood again.

"Your lips," Éponine touched her finger to the crimson stained skin. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine. Help me up." Enjolras tried to push himself up, but found himself too weak. "Help me up."

"Enjolras," Éponine warned, helping him up nevertheless. "You are going to cause yourself more injury."

Enjolras leaned heavily against her, letting his head rest against her shoulder as his body sagged under its own weight. "Just get me somewhere before it starts raining anymore."

Éponine gave a little smile as she stumbled across the ground with him, she could hardly keep up with his weight. She started to lose her hold of him, "I can't."

"Yes you can." Enjolras replied, he wrapped his arm around her waist, "Just get me somewhere out of the rain." He looked around the rubble and ruins of the Barricade, "There's an abandoned house that we used furniture from to build the bari-" Enjolras' words were broke off by a cough that wracked his body.

"I'll take you there," Éponine replied, trying to surge on towards the building. He was heavy in her arms, not nearly as heavy as the guilt that she was carrying about her feelings for him. She couldn't discern whether or not the feelings were true or purely induced by the high running emotions.

They'd barely got into the dilapidated old building by the time the rain started to fall down in heavy torrents. Enjolras laughed painfully, letting Éponine leave him against a wall as she shut the front door. "Just in the nick of time."

"It seems like that's the running theme for you and I." Éponine smirked, shaking her arms to alleviate the pain from supporting his weight.

"Sorry."

"I'm fine." Éponine waved her hand before stepping towards him, "Are you in any pain?"

"Yes." Enjolras gasped, pressing his hand against his wound. "I need you to help me get to the settee in the other room."

"Of course, of course." Éponine replied quickly, helping him move again. "Through here?"

"Yes." Enjolras nodded, feeling his vision blur as the pain increased. "I don't feel wel-"

"Enjolras!" Gasping Éponine let him slump down onto the settee, his head lolled to one side as he groaned in pain. "Come on Enjolras, you can't go now. Not after everything."

"Éponine." Enjolras breathed, trying to focus on the face that was only inches away from his face. "Oh 'Ponine."

Éponine chuckled, holding his cheeks between her hands. "Stay with me. Tell me something I don't know."

"Dorian."

"Dorian?"

"My name's Dorian Enjolras." Enjolras tried to laugh but the only sound that escaped his lips was a strangled gasp.

"Dorian Enjolras," Éponine smiled, meeting his dark eyes. "Not that bad of a name."

"Your eyes are brown."

"They are." Éponine blinked, stroking her thumb across his cheek bone.

"Like mine." Enjolras closed his eyes, feeling a strange warmth spreading through his body.

"Hey, Enjolras or should I say _Dorian_ stay with me. Your eyes are closing dangerously. I will not have you dying on me now." Éponine slapped her hands against his cheeks as gently as she could, jarring him back to consciousness. "Well, look now, I can see your eyes."

"I understand what you said earlier." Enjolras nodded his head slowly. "I understand if you want to take this slow. It's happened so suddenly." He leaned up, trying to catch her lips.

"Well, now I know for certain that you're injured." Éponine laughed, pressing a finger to his lips. Her eyes were intense as she shook her head. "I thought you were all about rigid structure, adhering to the laws of life, and being committed to your country first."

"I've given my blood, sweat, and tears for my country. I've nearly died for my country. I deserve a small reward."

"I can't. I'm sorry." Éponine shook her head again, but despite her words she leaned in just a fraction closer to him. She rested a hand on his leg to support herself as she ghosted her lips against his. Why was she kissing him when she said she couldn't do this? Why was she allowing this to happen when she had so many doubts about them?

It could only be the fact that she thought he might not make it. She couldn't bear to hurt him anymore than he was already injured. Giving into such a simple request, a request she was used to giving into nearly every evening of her life, seemed so monumental when she looked at Enjolras. To agree to kiss him felt serious, yet to kiss Montparnasse for a few coins felt like nothing.

"No?" Enjolras grimaced as he sat up a little straighter, supporting his weight on one arm as he wrapped his other around the back of her head. His fingers knotted in her dark mass of curls, urging her closer.

"I'm going to hurt you accidently if you keep this up." Éponine laughed, pulling away from him before she lost her grip. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, moving to sit beside him on the seat. "You just need to rest right now."

Enjolras gave into her gentle touch as she tugged him towards her chest, letting him rest his cheek against the swell of her bosom, like a tired babe. He was letting his emotions get the best of him, something he rarely did and could only equate to the fear of dying alone. Just like Grantaire had always annoyingly teased him about. He wanted to defy his, no doubt, deceased friend and prove him wrong. He had always fancied the dirty urchin, in her own outcast manner she was beautiful.

Éponine took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together and giving him a reassuring squeeze. "When you're much better we can discuss things. Things about us."

"Are you afraid this is all fuelled by the war?"

"Yes." Éponine breathed, meeting his eyes again.

"So am I." Enjolras shuddered, pain wracking his body again.

**A/N: So after 4 months I've updated (: Sorry for the wait. I lost my muse for this story. So bear with me as I get back on track. **


	4. Chapter 4

Éponine shifted under the weight of Enjolras, she felt her heart start to beat quickly as she realised how deathly still he was, with his check still pressed to her chest. She slowly pressed her fingers against his neck, checking for a pulse.

Enjolras mumbled, twisting his neck away from her touch, "Where? Oh –I." He sat up slowly, eyes fluttering open to see the dark haired girl he was laying on, "Éponine." He breathed her name, sitting up the rest of the way. "I'm sorry I must have been crushing you."

"I'm fine." Éponine laughed softly before the smile turned to a grimace as she watched Enjolras double over in pain as he moved. "You should try to not move so much."

"Were you checking my pulse?" Enjolras chuckled, trying to ignore the pain that was streaking through him from the wound.

"I thought-" Éponine shrugged her shoulders. "But you're not."

"Good morning." Enjolras tried to stretch but the motion only caused more pain. "Perhaps I shouldn't try that again."

Éponine reached out and placed her hand over the spot where he had been hit. She smiled a little when he placed his hand over hers. "I wish there was something to give you for the pain." Éponine pulled her hand away nervously, running her hands through his hair and rising to her feet. "I could go and fetch us something to eat if I had money."

"You don't have to act like you frequently pay for your meals for my sake." Enjolras struggled to stand up, only to have Éponine wheel around and shoo him to sit back down. "I'm not a cripple."

"But you're healing." Éponine's eyes scolded him as she looked down at his dark ones. "Don't make me use your full name."

"I'm terrified." Enjolras leaned back against the seat, grimacing as he felt the skin pull.

"You see all this movement is only causing yourself more pain." Éponine bit her lip when Enjolras held his hands out for her to take. "What-"

"Just take my hands."

Éponine placed her hands in his, shivering as his thumbs massaged the tops of her hands. "You do not have to be so stiff around me."

"I don't get attached to anyone. Just a simple part of my life. I don't get attached." Éponine pulled her hands away from his, too overwhelmed by his touch. "I mean, look at you. Aren't you Monsieur Stone Cold?"

Enjolras chuckled painfully, "I am aware that I have portrayed myself like that before this war. But the war, is for the most part, over. Until I am well I do not need to think about the next revolution."

"Enjolras," Éponine snapped, "There is no one left to fight with! You are the only one who survived. Just stop this foolish determination to be killed that you have. It's ridiculous. There's nothing for you to do." She tried to escape from his grasp, but his hold on her hands tightened. "Please, Enjolras. You can't honestly expect that you and I are going to work out."

"Anything can happen with a little hope. I just don't believe that we were brought together like this without a real reason."

Éponine shrugged her shoulders, trying to turn her attention to somewhere else. "Believe what you want, _Dorian_ but I am going to fetch us something to eat. There's a bakery not far from here. He's a poor dear, nearly deaf and hard of sight." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Stay alive until I get back."

"I'll try my best." Enjolras retorted, reclining back in the seat.

Éponine hesitated as she stepped away from him, "Here let me get you another pillow." She said as she snatched a pillow from an arm chair and brought it back to him. Settling the cushion behind his shoulders she gave him a gentle smile. Against everything she thought that her body was determined against, she leaned in and stole a quick kiss. "To keep you alive from now until I return." She gave him a playful pat on the shoulder as she darted from the room before anything else happened.

~o~

The sky was dark with large black rain clouds. It was only fitting that the sun would not shine after such bloodshed. Paris was quiet, despite those carrying on with their lives as though nothing happened. Shoppers and shop owners milled around, busily getting ready for just another day. Nothing was different for them today, unless they quietly mourned the loss of a husband, son, or lover. After you lose someone you are a different person, whether you want accept it or not.

Even after you gain someone – you're a different person.

Éponine hesitantly approached the baker's cart, casually waving to him and engaging him a brief conversation that last no more than a moment or two. She snatched up a few loaves, tucking them into the pockets of her coat. They were enough to last them for today, enough to keep Enjolras strong at least. She'd make do with snatching bread tomorrow.

She wasted no time to return to Enjolras, hurrying inside of the silent abandoned building she expected to find him past on to the other side. But, instead there he sat on the seat, waiting for her to return.

"I hope you come bearing gifts," Enjolras chuckled stiffly, realising that nearly any motion that he made caused pain.

"I'd say that I feel bad stealing from the less fortunate – but he's got money and food. What have I got?" Éponine pulled the bread from her pockets, she tossed him a roll before unloading the rest on a nearby table. "Enough for us for today. If you're very hungry, you can have my portion as well."

"You need as much food as I do, Éponine. Eat your own share." Enjolras motioned for her to sit down beside him. "What was it like outside?"

"Sad." Éponine replied, sitting herself down beside him. "Quiet and sad." She watched him eat the loaf before starting on her own.

"Did you hear any news?"

"I kept my distance from anyone who would have anything to say. I got our bread and came straight back." Éponine devoured the loaf of bread, filling the whole she felt in the pit of her stomach. "I didn't realise how starved I was." She gave him a sideways glance, "How are you?"

"Better now." He gave her a charming smile, before sputtering from a coughing fit.

"Take it easy." Éponine reached out hesitantly and took his hand. She was afraid to let herself become attached to him and yet at the same time she felt compelled to be near him and have her hand in his.

**A/N: Blech. Terribly boring chapter. I'm sorry. This story is SO hard to write. They're so different from our dear charries in Not For Me! (:**


	5. Chapter 5

"Why are you fighting this war?" Éponine asked, holding Enjolras' hand. She rested her cheek against his shoulder, taking a deep tired breath. She curled against him, like she had been lying for hours now. She just wanted to make sure he weathered this weakening stage of his wound, eh seemed to be suffering from a slight fever and she didn't want to risk him dying.

"What do you mean?"

"You were only a child when the last King and Queen of France were beheaded. You were barely old enough to comprehend the death of Robespierre. Why fight now?"

"The shortages of food, the ill-treatment of the people, and the cost of living. There are so many things that sprung this rebellion into action. We are so far away from true freedom from being controlled."

"But isn't it the duty of someone to take control? Haven't you rebels, in a sense, taken control?" Éponine asked, suddenly feeling more intelligent than she had ever found herself to be before. "I mean, aren't you all fighting for what you believe and trying to take control?"

"Yes, but not in the same manner as the monarchy has in the past, not in the same way as those in charge are. Éponine, you don't understand."

"Yes I do. I understand it better than you do." Éponine released his hand, crossing her arms across her chest. "I am the poor and the broken, I am the hungry and the starving. I don't think I've ever heard a single one of you students complain of being hungry. A rebellion is a nice idea, but do you realise that not long before Robespierre's death all those years ago, the common "citizen" could be taken to the Guillotine if they mentioned high bread prices?"

"I am well aware of the rebellion in the past, Éponine. I have studied it thoroughly. I don't need you to tell me about it." Enjolras glared at her, he didn't doubt that Éponine was an intelligent girl despite being uneducated, but there were some things you couldn't learn from common knowledge and common sense. He didn't need a poor girl to tell him how he should attempt to run the rebellion.

"Suit yourself." Éponine replied, rolling her eyes at the dark haired man beside her. This was on of the many reasons why she thought that they would never work out. They were from two _very_ different social classes. They would never see eye to eye on any subject. Perhaps he respected her position on things, but it was clear that it didn't really matter how she felt about it – it wasn't his opinion.

"Do you think this war was in vain?"

"Yes." Éponine turned and looked at him. "You, yourself have said that it was a hopeless fight. But I expect that you will say that my opinion doesn't matter."

"That's not true-"

"Don't." Éponine shook her head, covering his mouth with her hand. "I don't want to have this argument. You need to rest and not be stressed. Just forget what I've said."

"Éponine-"

"Don't."

"I don't want you to think that I don't respect your opinions-"

"You don't."

"I do. But, I'm looking at it with a more philosophical outlook. I have spent my life absorbed in the revolution of the past. You, have merely lived in the aftermath of the events."

"Yes, I have. I am the one with the true image of what the revolution caused. My idea about it isn't some highfalutin "learned" idea, it's the lived truth." Éponine took his hand again, "Please let's not argue."

Enjolras gave a strained smile, "What ever you say." He cupped her cheek in his palm, stroking his thumb across her cheek. "The politics of war is something I hold firmly to. Perhaps that should be added to list of subjects to not talk about."

"Enjolras, it is one of few things that we are able to talk about. Would we limit ourselves to perhaps one topic that we have in common? Which is that we live in Paris."

"Oh, Éponine." Enjolras sighed, "If you give us some sort of a chance."

"No, Enjolras. I'm being practical. I don't want to be hurt. I've been hurt before."

"Marius?"

Éponine nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't want to be hurt again."

"I don't want to hurt you Éponine. You are a strong woman and I admire you for that. But even the strong," Enjolras laughed, "need to take chances at being weak. It's humbling. I should know." He turned his head, leaning into kiss her lips.

Éponine opened her mouth to speak but he closed the distance again, pressing his lips against hers. He made her heart soar as he kissed her again and again. Kissing 'Parnasse had never felt quite so blissful. Éponine pulled away, she bit her lower lip, running her tongue across the flesh. She met Enjolras' gaze, feeling a blush heat her cheeks. "Perhaps we do not need to talk. If our lips are moving in a different way, it seems that we do well."

Enjolras laughed heartily, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, before kissing her lips again. He couldn't deny that she was right. It was their lips that were in perfect agreement with one another. _Pretty girls who went to our heads, witty girls who went to our beds_. Éponine was certainly a witty girl. She had a certain beauty about her that was different. She was beautiful in her own way.

"You should rest," Éponine said as she pulled away. She patted his chest, giving him a half smile as she stared him in the eyes. "Not a good idea to get you too _excited_." She brushed her lips against his once more before forcing herself to get up.

"I hope when I'm better you won't such a terrible tease."

"I'll negotiate once we get to that stage." Éponine smirked as she left the room. She wanted to explore the half derelict building, but at the same time she just wanted to remove herself from Enjolras' presence. She was too caught up with everything to honestly know how she felt. About anything.


	6. Chapter 6

Eponine had dosed off against the banister of the stairwell. She hadn't realized that she'd even fallen asleep, but the sun was streaking through the broken and dirty windows like a new morning. She drowsily opened her eyes, rubbing away the sleep and looking around confusedly. She was disoriented. As she rose slowly everything came flying at her suddenly.

"Enjolras!" She gasped, rushing towards the room where she had left him. As she approached the sofa he made no sign of stirring, no sound of a reply. "No…" She knelt beside the sofa and took his cold hand in hers. "Enjolras."

It was an agonizingly long moment. He made no sound and she held her breath. Was his chest moving? She couldn't tell. He was like ice. He looked like a Greek god immortalized in marble, laying there with his mouth just slightly open and his eyes shut. Like an angel fallen from heaven and landed, gracefully, onto the sofa. Like a saint lain out on his tomb.

"Eponine…"

"Enjolras!" Eponine couldn't control herself as she suddenly pressed her lips to his lips and felt the surprised gasp on his side. "Oh!" She clapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

His eyes drowsily opened, they moved wildly as they tried to focus on her face. He tried to laugh at her awkwardness but instead found himself choking on his painfully dry mouth. "I am dying."

"No. No. No. You can't." Eponine squeezed his hand desperately, feeling a sudden rush of blood to her head. Her eyes were drumming with the beat of her heart. It was deafening. "You can't die and leave me."

"I waited… until you came."

"No. _No_." Eponine bit her trembling lip; she gnawed on the spot until she could taste her own metallic blood in her mouth. "You can't leave me."

"If things had been different." Enjolras fought to keep his eyes open. "If we had found our feelings sooner."

Eponine shook her head in disbelief. She hadn't even had time to come to grips with whether or not she _did_ love him. Her heart ached to think of her life without him, only to realize her life had never had him. It had always been Marius it had never been Enjolras. But here lay a dying man that she would give her very soul to. "Don't die. You're going to be alright. I prom-"

"Don't." Enjolras waved his hand to hush her, his arm falling limp across his chest. "Promise me you'll keep living. Do yourself well in life. You're…" He groaned in pain, his lips trembling and his jaw causing his teeth to chatter. "Made of finer stuff. You're destined for more."

"I'm destined for you." Eponine said, trying to spur him on to living. "You seemed fine last night."

"Last night was a long…" Enjolras fought to catch his breath. He could feel the heaviness in his chest now, in his lungs. He was bleeding internally and there was nothing either of them could do. "time ago."

"But we haven't had enough time."

"You have time… Use it. You could have died in the skirmish but you didn't. My name will be forgotten but you have to keep living to remember it. Keep the boys of the barricade alive in here." He could barely lift his arm as he reached to touch his hand against her chest, just above her heart.

"No." Eponine lost control of the tears as they poured from her eyes. "Don't leave me."

"One… last kiss."

Eponine slowly leaned in towards him, cupping his cheek and kissing him with a sweet and tender kiss. Her lips moved against his until she felt his fall slack against her's. "NO!" She shouted, burying her face against his blood stained chest. "No, you weren't meant to die. You were meant to live. NO! Enjolras. No." She clutched his body, shaking him and begging him. But her cries and screams fell on deaf ears. He was gone. He had died with the kiss of a beautiful, misunderstood, young woman. A woman that he had hardly known, but in his last few hours of life he had decided that he cared for her deeper than he had cared for any other woman he had ever known.

Eponine. The bedraggled, flea-bitten, downtrodden, poor _whore_. Of every woman in France he had chosen her. No, he hadn't chosen her. God had chosen her, because _He_ knew that Enjolras' death would bring salvation to the young woman. She had always secretly admired the brilliant young student, though she knew little about him other than his impassionate speeches he gave to the Amis. He was everything she wasn't.

He was everything she needed to know that she needed to be better. She didn't have to be bound to the lot in life she was born into. No, with Enjolras' death she realized that she was the one that had to go on to represent the men who had fallen. She was the one to keep their purpose and the passion alive. One small female voice in a sea of shouting men could change something.

In the church of Notre Dame, years after the July Rebellion an older, well dressed, woman stood in the place of what had been a filthy, poor young woman. She had married a common worker, who had had a small fire within him to be greater. She lit the fire and made it stronger and together they climbed the ladders of the world. He worked to achieve in life and he did.

Eponine brushed her fingers across the marble cheek of the statue that was carved atop her old friend's grave. "In the end, you saved me."

**A/N: I know… I sort of abruptly ended this story but… This was what I planned on happening. Also, I'm trying to finish up stories before Uni starts next Monday. 18 credits of History and English. But I hope this story didn't disappoint. I gave it my spin and gave Eponine a life. **


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